Growth In Manufacturing Jobs Shows Promise

Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant

Luis Perez, of Manchester, brazes a piece of tubing for a General Electric engine at Pegasus Manufacturing in Middletown. Manufacturing jobs are slowly coming back in Connecticut as the economy improves and demand rises for aerospace parts.

Luis Perez, of Manchester, brazes a piece of tubing for a General Electric engine at Pegasus Manufacturing in Middletown. Manufacturing jobs are slowly coming back in Connecticut as the economy improves and demand rises for aerospace parts.

The well-paid work that makes jet engine components, gear parts, medical equipment and thousands of other components has been on the rebound in each of the last eight months. That's in sharp contrast to years of being hammered by rising productivity that allows fewer employees to do more work, a flight to other states and overseas in search of lower labor and other production costs and, most recently, the Great Recession.

The last such manufacturing jobs increase began in December 2010 and ended nine months later. Patrick Flaherty, an economist at the state Department of Labor, said the most recent uptick could stick around.

"It's perhaps too early to declare victory, but it's possible the long slide in manufacturing employment in Connecticut is coming to an end and we're seeing some gains," he said.

Connecticut employers posted nearly 162,000 manufacturing jobs in November, according to the Department of Labor. That's about 1 percent higher than in March, though way down from a peak of more than 300,000 in 1990.

Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant

Ray Miller, of Middletown, a tube bender at Pegasus Manufacturing, examines a tube he is bending with a bending machine at the Middletown company. Manufacturing jobs are slowly coming back in Connecticut as the economy improves and demand rises for aerospace parts.

Ray Miller, of Middletown, a tube bender at Pegasus Manufacturing, examines a tube he is bending with a bending machine at the Middletown company. Manufacturing jobs are slowly coming back in Connecticut as the economy improves and demand rises for aerospace parts.

(Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant)

Manufacturers and their workers in aviation, defense and other industries are buoyed now by demand for new airliners and airplane components, the improving economy and increasing strength in other areas such as medical equipment. Pentagon spending is a big factor and could drive more manufacturing growth in coming years.

Chris DiPentima, a Middletown manufacturer and head of an industry trade group, said defense spending, though strong, has not reached the levels they were before automatic spending cuts imposed by Congress in 2011. But federal spending now is "higher than it has been since," he said.

"It's something we've all been waiting for," DiPentima said.

He's increased jobs at the company he heads, Pegasus Manufacturing Inc., by 20 percent in the last year, filling jobs for welders, engineers, inspectors and other workers.

Big-ticket military products are not solely driving gains in Connecticut. Also contributing are fabricated metals, transportation equipment, chemicals, pharmaceutical parts and even tiny springs for eyeglasses, said Don Klepper-Smith, an economist in New Haven. Manufacturing jobs in Connecticut paid an average salary of $81,390 in 2014, according to the state Department of Labor.

A stronger manufacturing sector will have a broader impact, with parts suppliers for everything from aircraft engines to submarine periscopes winning contracts and hiring more workers. And more relatively well-paid workers will spread their money around, benefiting other industries.

Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant

Luis Perez, of Manchester, brazes a piece of tubing for a General Electric engine at Pegasus Manufacturing in Middletown. Manufacturing jobs are slowly coming back in Connecticut as the economy improves and demand rises for aerospace parts.

Luis Perez, of Manchester, brazes a piece of tubing for a General Electric engine at Pegasus Manufacturing in Middletown. Manufacturing jobs are slowly coming back in Connecticut as the economy improves and demand rises for aerospace parts.

(Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant)

Federal spending will send billions of dollars more to Connecticut for military equipment. Legislation signed recently by President Obama includes $5.3 billion to build two Virginia-class submarines a year, $1.4 billion to replace the Ohio-class submarines and $168 million to develop a payload module for the submarine.

The package also includes 11 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters valued at $1.33 billion, for a total of 68 in 2016 and $138 million for eight more Black Hawk helicopters made by Sikorsky.

The spending measure also includes $70 million for the modernization of aviation electronics of the C-130H transport aircraft fleet, which includes a unit of eight assigned to the Connecticut Air National Guard.

Congress approved more money in the most recent budget than requested by Obama to regain lost ground since congressional spending cuts in 2011, said Sen. Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"We were concerned the president's budget did not do enough to catch up," the Connecticut Democrat said.

Criticism of the F-35 based on its cost is misplaced because the price falls with the manufacture of more fighter planes, Murphy said. "It's expensive because we're not producing enough," he said.

Backing the defense industry that's critical to Connecticut's manufacturing base does not conflict with his criticism of how the military has been used on occasion, particularly the Bush administration's Iraq war policy.

"Part of having a robust defense is not having to use it," Murphy said.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd, whose district includes the submarine base in Groton, said that despite the spending, attack submarines after retirements will drop from 54 now to fewer than 48 between 2025 and 2036, far fewer than the 100 at the end of the Cold War 25 years ago.

"The undersea fleet is one area we still dominate and we shouldn't lose it," he said.

Despite the new signs of strength, Connecticut's manufacturing sector is vulnerable to weak markets. Exports were down 5 percent through Sept. 30 due to Europe's lackluster economy and the stronger dollar that makes U.S. goods more expensive overseas.

And Connecticut must always be on guard against rival states looking to lure manufacturers, Klepper-Smith said.